Tuesday, March 30, 2010

All Done Blocking

Well it's been about 6 months since we last talked about this project. We've been slowly plugging away at it, and we just reached a turning point: we finished sewing, ironing and trimming all the blocks and couldn't wait to lay it all out in the living room to see what the final product will look like.

We're now in the process of sewing all the blocks together, next will be sewing the front and back together and "quilting" it.

Next Step: finding somewhere or someone that has a "quilting" machine.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Labor Pains Begin

This is the first stack of paperwork Joshua and I have done.

I included the post it note so you could have a point of reference.

I wish I could say these were all just papers we had to sign but this bump on my ring finger doesn't lie. These are forms we had to fill out front and back, essay questions on both sides of those sheets of paper and all kinds of information we had to look up about ourselves. I'm expecting at least 3 more stacks of this magnitude before we are even allowed to be on the waiting list.

For now we're just focused on this stack being all done. Once we get our test results back we can start all of our interviewing and the next pile of paperwork. I think our labor pains will come every two months in the form of one inch of documents and forms to be filled out.

I'll give you one whole dollar if you can guess the first question we asked when they told us we had to write a 4 page autobiography.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Roadtrip Anyone?

Watch this and tell me what you think. I love it and think it is such an amazing idea but maybe I've been locked up in my office too long and I've lost all perspective. Or maybe it IS an amazing idea and one of you want to do a Google road trip with me.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

What the Junk?

My mother and I share a lot of talents.

We are both multitaskers.

We both speak our minds.

We are pretty good gift-givers.

The list could go on.

One talent I did not inherit is her ability to fold a fitted sheet perfectly. I know you think I'm overstating but in the closet you could never tell which were the flat and which were the fitted.

I've had her show me her methods. I've had her talk me through her technique...apparently this is the best I can do.

Let's all cross our fingers this isn't one of the tests during the home study.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Our Little News

So the Fykes have big news. Every time you say something like that when you are married without kids everyone assumes we're going to announce that we're pregnant.

We are NOT pregnant!

However!

Hopefully we're gonna have a kid in the next year. This month we kicked our plans to adopt into high gear. Well, technically we are really in neutral while we change our health insurance but the clutch is in and our hand is on the gear ready to go.

Joshua and I have always talked about adopting as a way to grow our family. We just feel like there are too many kids out there that need homes and we have a great one to share. So as soon as we get our new health insurance cards we'll be probed, questioned, fingerprinted, lectured to and then hopefully be deemed "fit" parents.

Stay tuned as the newest Fykes adventure unfolds.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

G/T Class

I was in the Gifted & Talented program when I was in school. In elementary school they would take like 10 of us out of each grade twice a week and we'd work on logic problems, or take special trips, or have research projects. When I look back and think about it the kids that got pulled out for this didn't really ever have a chance of being "cool." Everyone in the class hated you because you got to go "play" while they had to sit and read about George Washington.

Anyway I'm a dork and I loved the logic problems and all the learning stuff but the one part of the program I hated was every year we had to invent something. Every year. Who can invent something every year?

One year I did a new musical instrument with little pieces of wire soldered to the inside of a coffee can that you filled with balled up Hershey kiss wrappers and shook around. The different wires made different sounds and that was my invention. It had a name, something like Plunker I think. Isn't that genius idiotic?

Well the next year I decided to invent something that woke my sister up. The idea was it was supposed to reach across the room and it would be a ball you drop into a shoot and it travels down this path and that hits a pulley that swings something around and eventually rings a bell by her head. Well the complexity of keeping everything going with my very basic understanding of gravity (I was like 10) the contraption would only work if I was a like a foot and half away from her. At that point you might as well just hit her upside the head or say "Get Up!"

Why am I telling you this?

1. I want you to know I had no chance of being cool.

2. I am not an inventor.

3. I have an insane appreciation for the complexity of this stunt.

Enjoy!